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OpenAI employees plan to sell $6 billion in shares to SoftBank, two others
- IBJ Bureau
- Aug 17, 2025
Current and former OpenAI employees plan to sell approximately $6 billion of shares to an investors’ group that includes Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp and Dragoneer Investment Group in a deal that values the ChatGPT-maker at $500 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The talks are early and the size of the share sale could still change, the people have added. The secondary share investment is on top of SoftBank’s commitment to lead OpenAI’s $40-billion funding round, which values the company at $300 billion, according to another person familiar with the deal. That round remains ongoing, with OpenAI recently securing $8.3 billion from a syndicate of investors.
Representatives for Dragoneer and Thrive have not responded to requests for comment. Spokespeople for OpenAI and SoftBank have also declined to comment. All the three companies are existing OpenAI backers.
The secondary share sale, which was first reported by the Bloomberg, will give OpenAI employees a chance to get cash-rich amid a high-stakes talent war in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Companies like Meta Platforms are offering massive salaries to recruit AI talent from OpenAI and other startups. This year, several OpenAI employees have exited and joined for Meta, including Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT.
Allowing employees to sell shares is an important tool for startups trying to retain top talent, without requiring the company to go public or be acquired. In some cases, early investors also use these deals to sell down their stakes, though OpenAI investors are not eligible to do so in this round.
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